Plotted in secret, launched in the dark, John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was a pivotal moment in U.S. history. But few Americans know the true story of the men and women who launched a desperate strike at the slaveholding South. Now,
Midnight Rising portrays Brown's uprising in vivid color, revealing a country on the brink of explosive conflict. Brown, the descendant of New England Puritans, saw slavery as a sin against America's founding principles. Unlike most abolitionists, he was willing to take up arms, and in 1859 he prepared for battle at a hideout in Maryland....

5 out of 5 stars

Up from Obscurity

By
Lynn
on
06-18-12

All for the Union

The Civil War Diary and Letters of Elisha Hunt Rhodes

By:
Robert Hunt Rhodes

Narrated by:
Norman Dietz

Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
8

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
6

Story

4 out of 5 stars
6

All for the Union is the astonishing and eloquent diary of Elisha Hunt Rhodes, the Union soldier featured in Ken Burns' highly acclaimed PBS television documentary
The Civil War. Enlisting as a private in the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry, Rhodes fought in every major campaign waged by the Army of the Potomac, from Bull Run to Appomattox. Here, in his own powerfully moving words, Rhodes reveals why he was willing to die to preserve his beloved Union.

5 out of 5 stars

Captivating Narrative

By
Nathan
on
07-13-17

A Voyage Long and Strange

Rediscovering the New World

By:
Tony Horwitz

Narrated by:
John H. Mayer

Length: 17 hrs and 21 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
135

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
90

Story

4 out of 5 stars
91

On a chance visit to Plymouth Rock, Tony Horwitz makes an unsettling discovery. A history buff since early childhood, expensively educated at university - a history major, no less! - he's reached middle age with a third-grader's grasp of early America. In fact, he's mislaid more than a century of American history, the period separating Columbus' landing in 1492 from the arrival of English colonists at Jamestown in 16-oh-something. Did nothing happen in between?

1 out of 5 stars

Just Not For Me

By
Sara
on
10-25-15

The Myth of the Lost Cause

Why the South Fought the Civil War and Why the North Won

By:
Edward H. Bonekemper III

Narrated by:
C.J. McAllister

Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
251

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
238

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
236

The former Confederate states have continually mythologized the South's defeat to the North, depicting the Civil War as unnecessary, or as a fight over states' Constitutional rights, or as a David v. Goliath struggle in which the North waged "total war" over an underdog South. In
The Myth of the Lost Cause, historian Edward Bonekemper deconstructs this multi-faceted myth, revealing the truth about the war that nearly tore the nation apart 150 years ago.

5 out of 5 stars

Why orginal documents are so critical.

By
Sandy Addison
on
11-27-16

Battle Cry of Freedom: Volume 1

By:
James M. McPherson

Narrated by:
Jonathan Davis

Length: 20 hrs

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,208

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
910

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
904

James M. McPherson, professor emeritus of U.S. history at Princeton, is one of the foremost scholars of the Civil War. In this informative and meticulously researched masterpiece, he clarifies the differing ways of life and philosophy that led to this shattering conflict. Abraham Lincoln wondered whether "in a free government the minority have the right to break up the government". And Jefferson Davis felt "forced to take up arms" to guarantee states' rights.

5 out of 5 stars

volume1

By
chris
on
08-26-10

Collision of Empires

The War on the Eastern Front in 1914

By:
Prit Buttar

Narrated by:
Roger Clark

Length: 21 hrs and 25 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
27

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
27

Story

4 out of 5 stars
26

The fighting that raged in the East during the First World War was every bit as fierce as that on the Western Front, but the titanic clashes between three towering empires - Russia, Austro-Hungary, and Germany - remains a comparatively unknown facet of the Great War. With the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the war in 2014,
Collision of Empires is a timely expose of the bitter fighting on this forgotten front - a clash that would ultimately change the face of Europe forever.

5 out of 5 stars

Let’s hope they release the next books

By
Jack C
on
01-03-18

Midnight Rising

John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War

By:
Tony Horwitz

Narrated by:
Dan Oreskes

Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
161

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
139

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
139

Plotted in secret, launched in the dark, John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was a pivotal moment in U.S. history. But few Americans know the true story of the men and women who launched a desperate strike at the slaveholding South. Now,
Midnight Rising portrays Brown's uprising in vivid color, revealing a country on the brink of explosive conflict. Brown, the descendant of New England Puritans, saw slavery as a sin against America's founding principles. Unlike most abolitionists, he was willing to take up arms, and in 1859 he prepared for battle at a hideout in Maryland....

5 out of 5 stars

Up from Obscurity

By
Lynn
on
06-18-12

All for the Union

The Civil War Diary and Letters of Elisha Hunt Rhodes

By:
Robert Hunt Rhodes

Narrated by:
Norman Dietz

Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
8

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
6

Story

4 out of 5 stars
6

All for the Union is the astonishing and eloquent diary of Elisha Hunt Rhodes, the Union soldier featured in Ken Burns' highly acclaimed PBS television documentary
The Civil War. Enlisting as a private in the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry, Rhodes fought in every major campaign waged by the Army of the Potomac, from Bull Run to Appomattox. Here, in his own powerfully moving words, Rhodes reveals why he was willing to die to preserve his beloved Union.

5 out of 5 stars

Captivating Narrative

By
Nathan
on
07-13-17

A Voyage Long and Strange

Rediscovering the New World

By:
Tony Horwitz

Narrated by:
John H. Mayer

Length: 17 hrs and 21 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
135

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
90

Story

4 out of 5 stars
91

On a chance visit to Plymouth Rock, Tony Horwitz makes an unsettling discovery. A history buff since early childhood, expensively educated at university - a history major, no less! - he's reached middle age with a third-grader's grasp of early America. In fact, he's mislaid more than a century of American history, the period separating Columbus' landing in 1492 from the arrival of English colonists at Jamestown in 16-oh-something. Did nothing happen in between?

1 out of 5 stars

Just Not For Me

By
Sara
on
10-25-15

The Myth of the Lost Cause

Why the South Fought the Civil War and Why the North Won

By:
Edward H. Bonekemper III

Narrated by:
C.J. McAllister

Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
251

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
238

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
236

The former Confederate states have continually mythologized the South's defeat to the North, depicting the Civil War as unnecessary, or as a fight over states' Constitutional rights, or as a David v. Goliath struggle in which the North waged "total war" over an underdog South. In
The Myth of the Lost Cause, historian Edward Bonekemper deconstructs this multi-faceted myth, revealing the truth about the war that nearly tore the nation apart 150 years ago.

5 out of 5 stars

Why orginal documents are so critical.

By
Sandy Addison
on
11-27-16

Battle Cry of Freedom: Volume 1

By:
James M. McPherson

Narrated by:
Jonathan Davis

Length: 20 hrs

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,208

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
910

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
904

James M. McPherson, professor emeritus of U.S. history at Princeton, is one of the foremost scholars of the Civil War. In this informative and meticulously researched masterpiece, he clarifies the differing ways of life and philosophy that led to this shattering conflict. Abraham Lincoln wondered whether "in a free government the minority have the right to break up the government". And Jefferson Davis felt "forced to take up arms" to guarantee states' rights.

5 out of 5 stars

volume1

By
chris
on
08-26-10

Collision of Empires

The War on the Eastern Front in 1914

By:
Prit Buttar

Narrated by:
Roger Clark

Length: 21 hrs and 25 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
27

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
27

Story

4 out of 5 stars
26

The fighting that raged in the East during the First World War was every bit as fierce as that on the Western Front, but the titanic clashes between three towering empires - Russia, Austro-Hungary, and Germany - remains a comparatively unknown facet of the Great War. With the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the war in 2014,
Collision of Empires is a timely expose of the bitter fighting on this forgotten front - a clash that would ultimately change the face of Europe forever.

5 out of 5 stars

Let’s hope they release the next books

By
Jack C
on
01-03-18

The Impending Crisis

America Before the Civil War: 1848-1861

By:
David M. Potter,
Don E. Fehrenbacher

Narrated by:
Eric Martin

Length: 22 hrs and 41 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
87

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
78

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
76

David M. Potter's Pulitzer Prize-winning
The Impending Crisis is the definitive history of antebellum America. Potter's sweeping epic masterfully charts the chaotic forces that climaxed with the outbreak of the Civil War: westward expansion, the divisive issue of slavery, the Dred Scott decision, John Brown's uprising, the ascension of Abraham Lincoln, and the drama of Southern secession.

5 out of 5 stars

Great History Book

By
jose
on
10-07-17

Fire and Fury

Inside the Trump White House

By:
Michael Wolff

Narrated by:
Michael Wolff,
Holter Graham

Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
16,487

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
14,738

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
14,651

With extraordinary access to the West Wing, Michael Wolff reveals what happened behind-the-scenes in the first nine months of the most controversial presidency of our time in Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. Since Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, the country—and the world—has witnessed a stormy, outrageous, and absolutely mesmerizing presidential term that reflects the volatility and fierceness of the man elected Commander-in-Chief.

3 out of 5 stars

Not as credible as one would like.

By
Jerry R. Nokes Jr.
on
01-29-18

Battle Cry of Freedom: Volume 2

By:
James M. McPherson

Narrated by:
Jonathan Davis

Length: 19 hrs and 45 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
968

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
737

Story

5 out of 5 stars
737

James M. McPherson, professor emeritus of U.S. history at Princeton, is one of the foremost scholars of the Civil War. In this informative and meticulously researched masterpiece, he clarifies the differing ways of life and philosophy that led to this shattering conflict. Abraham Lincoln wondered whether "in a free government the minority have the right to break up the government". And Jefferson Davis felt "forced to take up arms" to guarantee states' rights.

5 out of 5 stars

What a Pleasant Surprise

By
Kenneth
on
02-12-12

The Killer Angels

A Novel of the Civil War

By:
Michael Shaara

Narrated by:
Stephen Hoye

Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
3,357

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
2,575

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
2,587

After 30 years and with three million copies in print, Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize-winning Civil War classic,
The Killer Angels, remains as vivid and powerful as the day it was originally published.

5 out of 5 stars

GOOD-BYE, GOOD LUCK AND SEE YOU IN HELL

By
Jim "The Impatient"
on
06-30-16

The Last Castle

The Epic Story of Love, Loss, and American Royalty in the Nation’s Largest Home

By:
Denise Kiernan

Narrated by:
Denise Kiernan

Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
90

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
83

Story

4 out of 5 stars
84

Orphaned at a young age, Edith Stuyvesant Dresser claimed lineage from one of New York's best known families. She grew up in Newport and Paris, and her engagement and marriage to George Vanderbilt was one of the most watched events of Gilded Age society. But none of this prepared her to be mistress of Biltmore House. Before their marriage, the wealthy and bookish Vanderbilt had dedicated his life to creating a spectacular European-style estate on 125,000 acres of North Carolina wilderness.

2 out of 5 stars

Very factual

By
Jennifer
on
11-28-17

On to Petersburg

Grant and Lee, June 4-15, 1864

By:
Gordon C. Rhea

Narrated by:
Jonathan Davis

Length: 16 hrs and 21 mins

Unabridged

Overall

5 out of 5 stars
8

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
8

Story

5 out of 5 stars
8

On to Petersburg follows the Union army's movement to the James River, the military response from the Confederates, and the initial assault on Petersburg, which Rhea suggests marked the true end of the Overland Campaign. Beginning his account in the immediate aftermath of Grant's three-day attack on Confederate troops at Cold Harbor, Rhea argues that the Union general's primary goal was not - as often supposed - to take Richmond, but rather to destroy Lee's army by closing off its retreat routes and disrupting its supply chain.

The Civil War

A Concise History

By:
Louis P. Masur

Narrated by:
Lance Guest

Length: 4 hrs and 12 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
25

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
19

Story

4 out of 5 stars
19

One hundred and fifty years after the first shots were fired on Fort Sumter, the Civil War still captures the American imagination, and its reverberations can still be felt throughout America's social and political landscape. Louis P. Masur's The Civil War: A Concise History offers a masterful and eminently listenable overview of the war's multiple causes and catastrophic effects. Masur begins by examining the complex origins of the war, focusing on the pulsating tensions over states rights and slavery.

Grant

By:
Ron Chernow

Narrated by:
Mark Bramhall

Length: 48 hrs and 1 min

Unabridged

Overall

5 out of 5 stars
2,401

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
2,196

Story

5 out of 5 stars
2,183

Ulysses S. Grant's life has typically been misunderstood. All too often he is caricatured as a chronic loser and an inept businessman or as the triumphant but brutal Union general of the Civil War. But these stereotypes don't come close to capturing him, as Chernow sows in his masterful biography, the first to provide a complete understanding of the general and president whose fortunes rose and fell with dizzying speed and frequency.

5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Book (BUT WHERE IS THE PDF FILES)????

By
Amazon Customer
on
10-25-17

Landscape Turned Red

The Battle of Antietam

By:
Stephen W. Sears

Narrated by:
Barrett Whitener

Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
222

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
159

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
154

The Civil War battle waged on September 17, 1862, at Antietam Creek, Maryland, was one of the bloodiest in the nation's history: On this single day, the battle claimed nearly 23,000 casualties. In
Landscape Turned Red, the renowned historian Stephen Sears draws on a remarkable cache of diaries, dispatches, and letters to recreate the vivid drama of Antietam as experienced not only by its leaders but also by its soldiers, both Union and Confederate.

5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Book

By
David
on
08-16-06

Hillbilly Elegy

A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

By:
J. D. Vance

Narrated by:
J. D. Vance

Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
31,425

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
28,251

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
28,189

Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis - that of white working-class Americans. The decline of this group, a demographic of our country that has been slowly disintegrating over 40 years, has been reported on with growing frequency and alarm but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck.

5 out of 5 stars

Enlightening!

By
Gotta Tellya
on
09-11-16

Stinker Lets Loose!

By:
Mike Sacks,
James Taylor Johnston

Narrated by:
Jon Hamm,
Eric Martin,
Andy Richter,
and others

Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins

Original Recording

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
230

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
215

Story

3.5 out of 5 stars
218

Mike has teamed up with director Eric Martin to adapt the novelization into a fully immersive cinematic audio experience, and an epic all-star cast has come together to introduce Stinker to a whole new generation of fans! It's Smokey and the Bandit meets Every Which Way But Loose meets Smokey and the Bandit Parts 2 and 3. Feel the thrill as Stinker teams up with old pals Boner and Jumbo, plus new friends Buck and Rascal the Chimp, for a crazy ride across the highways and byways of Bicentennial America.

5 out of 5 stars

AWFULLY WONDERFUL!!!

By
Ira Gewanter
on
01-11-18

The Korean War

By:
Max Hastings

Narrated by:
Cameron Stewart

Length: 19 hrs and 49 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
233

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
215

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
216

On 25 June, 1950, the invasion of South Korea by the Communist North launched one of the bloodiest conflicts of the last century. The seemingly limitless power of the Chinese-backed North was thrown against the ferocious firepower of the UN-backed South in a war that can be seen today as the stark prelude to Vietnam.

5 out of 5 stars

Brings a true history to a war that is often over looked

By
rstone23
on
03-30-16

Publisher's Summary

When prize-winning war correspondent Tony Horwitz leaves the battlefields of Bosnia and the Middle East for a peaceful corner of the Blue Ridge Mountains, he thinks he's put war zones behind him. But awakened one morning by the crackle of musket fire, Horwitz starts filing front-line dispatches again - this time from a war close to home, and to his own heart.

Propelled by his boyhood passion for the Civil-War, Horwitz embarks on a search for places and people still held in thrall by America's greatest conflict. The result is an adventure into the soul of the unvanquished South, where the ghosts of the Lost Cause are resurrected through ritual and remembrance.

In Virginia, Horwitz joins a band of "hardcore" reenactors who crash-diet to achieve the hollow-eyed look of starved Confederates; in Kentucky, he witnesses Klan rallies and calls for race war sparked by the killing of a white man who brandishes a rebel flag; and in the book's climax, Horwitz takes a marathon trek from Antietam to Gettysburg to Appomattox in the company of Robert Lee Hodge, an eccentric pilgrim who dubs their odyssey the "Civil Wargasm."

Story

Not a Book to be Kept in the Attic

This book is an intriguing and highly engrossing journey through the eyes of Civil War reinactors. Being a Civil War buff, I expected to find this book interesting. What I found instead was a book that engrossed me completely. I learned so many things about Civil War battles and just average soldiers that I had never expected. The great thing about this book is that it is coming through the eyes of an outsider to the whole reinactment experience, so one gets a picture that is not initially biased.

You will be amazed at the lengths the "hard cores" go through to really live the authentic experience! You will also learn about race relations in today's South...pertinent issues that may get swept aside in the fray of current news.

If you enjoy the Civil War, listen to this book. If you don't know if you enjoy the Civil War, listen to this book. It is an experience that truly makes learning fun!!

Down to earth

This has been one of the most enjoyable and informational books I have. It started out with me laughing as I drove to work listening to it. But, after the first couple of chapters it was spellbinding. The writer is much like most 'Civil War' buffs with it being set in our time frame. As he travels through the south, meeting many different types of people, it was remarkable to realize the changes that still wrench some of the south's families.
I have a friend that travels with me on my ‘history’ trips (our families hate history) and she is black and I am white. I had never given it much thought until I listened to this book. We have so far only traveled in the north. If gives you pause to think of how a minority, I am sure, of people would be offended as we explore. One of the things that amazed me the most is how the author puts this all in a light of understanding and patience even though he found it offensive. I had never thought before about the southern war heros not having the same recognition as the north's. My friend is listening to this book now and I am so anxious to get her take on it.

Good, not sure about ending

I read this book in paper form first, as it was a book required by the U North Carolina required freshman reading (I find that list a very good recommendation of reading material!).
Then I listened to it on Audible, and was as enthralled with it as when I first read it. Hilarious at times, epsecially with the descriptions of the Jewish author's interactions in the South and with fervent Civil War re-enactors.
He tries to bring out how we're still effected, and how the war is continuing into modern society, but that's where I lost him. I never got a completed sense of conclusion of what the author learned, but maybe that's the message. Wonderful listen however, and heartily recommended.

An Interesting Insight

Horwitz's exploration into the world of current and past confederates is an interesting one. The modern day Southern Rebel is fascinating. Tony's experiences with the Civil War reenactors stay in my mind. Some of the scarier characters also make an impression. Any fan of American history will enjoy this book.

mediocre

Tony Horwitz uses his immersion in Civil War environments as the background for his real quest: searching for his own identity. With only shallow American roots, he probes the heritage of Southerners
to see what make them so fervent about their past. He discovers racial division and strife mingled with honor and decency, but doesn't seem to find in his travels the personal significance he yearns for. Well-written, with lots of good Confederate details.
I agree with another reviewer that this narrator's accents were very
annoying, but the author's constant cynicism toward anything "modern"
was more so.

Enjoyable & Epic

Would you consider the audio edition of Confederates in the Attic to be better than the print version?

I own both the audio and print version, but read the print version first and couldn't put it down. I don't know that I enjoyed the audio version more, except that I am able to multi-task while listening to a book.

What did you like best about this story?

As a fan of the US Civil War period, I thoroughly enjoyed Tony Horowitz's recounting of his "civil war-gasm", as well as his thoughts about the various types of folks who participate in reenacting.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There are many moments that are particularly moving, especially as he is interviewing people about their modern thoughts on the US Civil War.

Any additional comments?

I feel this is well written, informative and entertaining. This is a book that I would read again and again.

I love this book

I originally read this book in paperback several years back but lent out my book and have no idea who has it now. It was so enjoyable the first time, it was worth a second read or, in this case, listen. A good modern non-fiction novel on how the South still hasn't gotten over the Civil War. As a Californian now living in the deep south, I often get called a Yankee. That is why I originally read this book - to help me have a greater understanding of why, over 100 years later, the natives still talk about the war. This book lead me to delve deeper into Civil War history.